scholarly journals An efficient Helmholtz solver for acoustic transversely isotropic media

Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. C75-C83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zedong Wu ◽  
Tariq Alkhalifah

The acoustic approximation, even for anisotropic media, is widely used in current industry imaging and inversion algorithms mainly because P-waves constitute most of the energy recorded in seismic exploration. The resulting acoustic formulas tend to be simpler, resulting in more efficient implementations, and they depend on fewer medium parameters. However, conventional solutions of the acoustic-wave equation with higher-order derivatives suffer from S-wave artifacts. Thus, we separate the quasi-P-wave propagation in anisotropic media into the elliptic anisotropic operator (free of the artifacts) and the nonelliptic anisotropic components, which form a pseudodifferential operator. We then develop a separable approximation of the dispersion relation of nonelliptic-anisotropic components, specifically for transversely isotropic media. Finally, we iteratively solve the simpler lower-order elliptical wave equation for a modified source function that includes the nonelliptical terms represented in the Fourier domain. A frequency-domain Helmholtz formulation of the approach renders the iterative implementation efficient because the cost is dominated by the lower-upper decomposition of the impedance matrix for the simpler elliptical anisotropic model. In addition, the resulting wavefield is free of S-wave artifacts and has a balanced amplitude. Numerical examples indicate that the method is reasonably accurate and efficient.

Geophysics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhas Phadke ◽  
S. Kapotas ◽  
N. Dai ◽  
Ernest R. Kanasewich

Wave propagation in transversely isotropic media is governed by the horizontal and vertical wave velocities. The quasi‐P(qP) wavefront is not an ellipse; therefore, the propagation cannot be described by the wave equation appropriate for elliptically anisotropic media. However, for a limited range of angles from the vertical, the dispersion relation for qP‐waves can be approximated by an ellipse. The horizontal velocity necessary for this approximation is different from the true horizontal velocity and depends upon the physical properties of the media. In the method described here, seismic data is migrated using a 45-degree wave equation for elliptically anisotropic media with the horizontal velocity determined by comparing the 45-degree elliptical dispersion relation and the quasi‐P‐dispersion relation. The method is demonstrated for some synthetic data sets.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. C79-C97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Hao ◽  
Alexey Stovas

We have developed an approximate method to calculate the P-wave phase and group velocities for orthorhombic media. Two forms of analytic approximations for P-wave velocities in orthorhombic media were built by analogy with the five-parameter moveout approximation and the four-parameter velocity approximation for transversely isotropic media, respectively. They are called the generalized moveout approximation (GMA)-type approximation and the Fomel approximation, respectively. We have developed approximations for elastic and acoustic orthorhombic media. We have characterized the elastic orthorhombic media in Voigt notation, and we can describe the acoustic orthorhombic media by introducing the modified Alkhalifah’s notation. Our numerical evaluations indicate that the GMA-type and Fomel approximations are accurate for elastic and acoustic orthorhombic media with strong anisotropy, and the GMA-type approximation is comparable with the approximation recently proposed by Sripanich and Fomel. Potential applications of the proposed approximations include forward modeling and migration based on the dispersion relation and the forward traveltime calculation for seismic tomography.


Geophysics ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 564-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wright

Studies have shown that elastic properties of materials such as shale and chalk are anisotropic. With the increasing emphasis on extraction of lithology and fluid content from changes in reflection amplitude with shot‐to‐group offset, one needs to know the effects of anisotropy on reflectivity. Since anisotropy means that velocity depends upon the direction of propagation, this angular dependence of velocity is expected to influence reflectivity changes with offset. These effects might be particularly evident in deltaic sand‐shale sequences since measurements have shown that the P-wave velocity of shales in the horizontal direction can be 20 percent higher than the vertical P-wave velocity. To investigate this behavior, a computer program was written to find the P- and S-wave reflectivities at an interface between two transversely isotropic media with the axis of symmetry perpendicular to the interface. Models for shale‐chalk and shale‐sand P-wave reflectivities were analyzed.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. C9-C20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Hao ◽  
Tariq Alkhalifah

Seismic-wave attenuation is an important component of describing wave propagation. Certain regions, such as gas clouds inside the earth, exert highly localized attenuation. In fact, the anisotropic nature of the earth induces anisotropic attenuation because the quasi P-wave dispersion effect should be profound along the symmetry direction. We have developed a 2D acoustic eikonal equation governing the complex-valued traveltime of quasi P-waves in attenuating, transversely isotropic media with a vertical-symmetry axis (VTI). This equation is derived under the assumption that the complex-valued traveltime of quasi P-waves in attenuating VTI media are independent of the S-wave velocity parameter [Formula: see text] in Thomsen’s notation and the S-wave attenuation coefficient [Formula: see text] in Zhu and Tsvankin’s notation. We combine perturbation theory and Shanks transform to develop practical approximations to the acoustic attenuating eikonal equation, capable of admitting an analytical description of the attenuation in homogeneous media. For a horizontal-attenuating VTI layer, we also derive the nonhyperbolic approximations for the real and imaginary parts of the complex-valued reflection traveltime. These equations reveal that (1) the quasi SV-wave velocity and the corresponding quasi SV-wave attenuation coefficient given as part of Thomsen-type notation barely affect the ray velocity and ray attenuation of quasi P-waves in attenuating VTI media; (2) combining the perturbation method and Shanks transform provides an accurate analytic eikonal solution for homogeneous attenuating VTI media; (3) for a horizontal attenuating VTI layer with weak attenuation, the real part of the complex-valued reflection traveltime may still be described by the existing nonhyperbolic approximations developed for nonattenuating VTI media, and the imaginary part of the complex-valued reflection traveltime still has the shape of nonhyperbolic curves. In addition, we have evaluated the possible extension of the proposed eikonal equation to realistic attenuating media, an alternative perturbation solution to the proposed eikonal equation, and the feasibility of applying the proposed nonhyperbolic equation for the imaginary part of the complex-valued traveltime to invert for interval attenuation parameters.


Geophysics ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 771-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. White

Radiation of elastic waves from a point force or from a localized torque into a transversely isotropic medium has been formulated in terms of displacement potentials, and transient waveforms have been computed by numerical Fourier inversion. For isotropic sandstone, this procedure yields P‐ and S‐wave pulses whose arrival times and magnitudes agree with theory. For a range of anisotropic rocks, arrival times of quasi‐P‐waves and quasi‐S‐waves agree with asymptotic theory. For extreme anisotropy, some quasi‐S‐wave pulses arrive at times which are not predicted by asymptotic theory. Magnitudes have not been compared with results of asymptotic theory, but decrease with distance appears to be in agreement. This Fourier inversion method gives near‐source changes in waveform which are not obtainable from the asymptotic theory.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. C337-C354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Schleicher ◽  
Jessé C. Costa

The wave equation can be tailored to describe wave propagation in vertical-symmetry axis transversely isotropic (VTI) media. The qP- and qS-wave eikonal equations derived from the VTI wave equation indicate that in the pseudoacoustic approximation, their dispersion relations degenerate into a single one. Therefore, when using this dispersion relation for wave simulation, for instance, by means of finite-difference approximations, both events are generated. To avoid the occurrence of the pseudo-S-wave, the qP-wave dispersion relation alone needs to be approximated. This can be done with or without the pseudoacoustic approximation. A Padé expansion of the exact qP-wave dispersion relation leads to a very good approximation. Our implementation of a separable version of this equation in the mixed space-wavenumber domain permits it to be compared with a low-rank solution of the exact qP-wave dispersion relation. Our numerical experiments showed that this approximation can provide highly accurate wavefields, even in strongly anisotropic inhomogeneous media.


Geophysics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 623-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tariq Alkhalifah

When transversely isotropic (VTI) media with vertical symmetry axes are characterized using the zero‐dip normal moveout (NMO) velocity [[Formula: see text]] and the anisotropy parameter ηinstead of Thomsen’s parameters, time‐related processing [moveout correction, dip moveout (DMO), and time migration] become nearly independent of the vertical P- and S-wave velocities ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively). The independence on [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is well within the limits of seismic accuracy, even for relatively strong anisotropy. The dependency on [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] reduces even further as the ratio [Formula: see text] decreases. In fact, for [Formula: see text], all time‐related processing depends exactly on only [Formula: see text] and η. This fortunate dependence on two parameters is demonstrated here through analytical derivations of time‐related processing equations in terms of [Formula: see text] and η. The time‐migration dispersion relation, the NMO velocity for dipping events, and the ray‐tracing equations extracted by setting [Formula: see text] (i.e., by considering VTI as acoustic) not only depend solely on [Formula: see text] and η but are much simpler than the counterpart expressions for elastic media. Errors attributed to this use of the acoustic assumption are small and may be neglected. Therefore, as in isotropic media, the acoustic model arising from setting [Formula: see text], although not exactly true for VTI media, can serve as a useful approximation to the elastic model for the kinematics of P-wave data. This approximation can boost the efficiency of imaging and DMO programs for VTI media as well as simplify their description.


Geophysics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya Tsvankin

Progress in seismic inversion and processing in anisotropic media depends on our ability to relate different seismic signatures to the anisotropic parameters. While the conventional notation (stiffness coefficients) is suitable for forward modeling, it is inconvenient in developing analytic insight into the influence of anisotropy on wave propagation. Here, a consistent description of P‐wave signatures in transversely isotropic (TI) media with arbitrary strength of the anisotropy is given in terms of Thomsen notation. The influence of transverse isotropy on P‐wave propagation is shown to be practically independent of the vertical S‐wave velocity [Formula: see text], even in models with strong velocity variations. Therefore, the contribution of transverse isotropy to P‐wave kinematic and dynamic signatures is controlled by just two anisotropic parameters, ε and δ, with the vertical velocity [Formula: see text] being a scaling coefficient in homogeneous models. The distortions of reflection moveouts and amplitudes are not necessarily correlated with the magnitude of velocity anisotropy. The influence of transverse isotropy on P‐wave normal‐moveout (NMO) velocity in a horizontally layered medium, on small‐angle reflection coefficient, and on point‐force radiation in the symmetry direction is entirely determined by the parameter δ. Another group of signatures of interest in reflection seisimology—the dip‐dependence of NMO velocity, magnitude of nonhyperbolic moveout, time‐migration impulse response, and the radiation pattern near vertical—is dependent on both anisotropic parameters (ε and δ) and is primarily governed by the difference between ε and δ. Since P‐wave signatures are so sensitive to the value of ε − δ, application of the elliptical‐anisotropy approximation (ε = δ) in P‐wave processing may lead to significant errors. Many analytic expressions given in the paper remain valid in transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis. Moreover, the equation for NMO velocity from dipping reflectors, as well as the nonhyperbolic moveout equation, can be used in symmetry planes of any anisotropic media (e.g., orthorhombic).


Author(s):  
Yabing Zhang ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Shigang Xu

Abstract Under the conditions of acoustic approximation and isotropic attenuation, we derive the pseudo- and pure-viscoacoustic wave equations from the complex constitutive equation and the decoupled P-wave dispersion relation, respectively. Based on the equations, we investigate the viscoacoustic wave propagation in vertical transversely isotropic media. The favourable advantage of these formulas is that the phase dispersion and the amplitude dissipation terms are inherently separated. As a result, we can conveniently perform the decoupled viscoacoustic wavefield simulations by choosing different coefficients. In the computational process, a generalised pseudo-spectral method and a low-rank decomposition scheme are adopted to calculate the wavenumber-domain and mixed-domain propagators, respectively. Because low-rank decomposition plays an important role in the simulated procedure, we evaluate the approximation accuracy for different operators using a linear velocity model. To demonstrate the effectiveness and the accuracy of our method, several numerical examples are carried out based on the new pseudo- and pure-viscoacoustic wave equations. Both equations can effectively describe the viscoacoustic wave propagation characteristics in vertical transversely isotropic media. Unlike the pseudo-viscoacoustic wave equation, the pure-viscoacoustic wave equation can produce stable viscoacoustic wavefields without any SV-wave artefacts.


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